The Middletons: A family at ease with royalty

Catherine Middleton arrives with her father Michael Middleton to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England.Photo by
Tom Pilston

Hurrah for the Middletons - and, by extension, the entire middle class. The bride's family pulled off a well nigh flawless performance on Kate's big day, proving themselves the equals of the Royal family sitting on the other side of the aisle. Their dress sense was impeccable, but it was more than that. They behaved with a naturalness that gave the necessarily stiff, ceremonial occasion some of its most human moments.

The competing effects of pride and stage fright showed on Michael Middleton's face as he accompanied his daughter up the aisle. Tears were pricking at his eyes, there was a slight wobble to his handsome jaw,

but clearly he didn't want to crack - not when the daughter who held on to his arm was behaving with such dignity.

He was a father of the bride anyone could identify with; Carole Middleton's role at the wedding itself was less crucial but, as the first member of the bride's family to arrive, she set the tone. We may never know what it was that caused her to scrap the Lindka Cierach outfit at the last minute. Perhaps it was too bright and would have looked garish or pushy alongside the rather muted "champagne" tones of the Duchess of Cornwall's dress and coat. The Catherine Walker pale grey shantung ensemble echoed rather too closely the grey clouds overhead when she first appeared, but it hung elegantly with a lovely curved slit at the back, and blended unostentatiously with the generally soft tones others were wearing.

Before the marriage ceremony, Mrs Middleton appeared tense and unsmiling, but in the Abbey she sang enthusiastically (rather more so than many other members of the congregation, notably Sir Elton John). Afterwards it was she, not the royal in-laws, who seemed more at ease as she chatted to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in their carriage, then to the Queen on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. If "We've done it" was passing through her mind, it never showed.

The cameras were mainly occupied with the Royal family in the Abbey, so it was hard to tell if any Middleton relations had made fashion misjudgments. Reprobate Uncle Gary was seen wearing a slightly odd pink shirt with his morning suit, but the owner of the Maison de Bang-Bang could have been far more embarrassing. Certainly, there didn't appear to be any faux pas to equal the York girls' outfits.

By contrast, the Middleton girls were models of taste and decorum. Kate, of course, looked beautiful, but her younger sister Pippa, 27, turned as many heads. Twitter nearly crashed, reputedly, when she appeared in her sheer silk dress with its cowl neck. On the Buckingham Palace balcony later, the Duke of Edinburgh, 89, looked more than happy to be stationed next to her.

James Middleton, Kate's 23-year-old brother, probably had the worst job of the day. He had to read the only Lesson during the service. Anxiety about stumbling over the verses from Romans may have caused him to

take it at an excessively Pinteresque pace, but he was (pause) at least (pause) audible (look up, breathe) throughout.

The Middletons should be proud not just of their daughter, but of themselves. They are a happy family marrying into one that has had its dysfunctional moments. Alice Goldsmith, Carole Middleton's 99-year-old aunt caused amusement when she appeared on television last week saying that she thought young Kate was "too good for" the Windsors. No one said such a thing yesterday, but equally there were no "doors to manual" jokes either.

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